On this Thanksgiving morning of 2008, I’m reflecting on my Mameta’s last days. I wrote a tribute to her here. It’s also a plea for you to be in touch with the loved ones who pop into your spirit or heart today. I followed such a “pop” and am forever grateful!

We completed a 21 Days of Kindness event last week and what a joy it was!

What a perfect prelude to Thanksgiving. Gratitude is our path to kindness. If we can remain grateful for every moment of life, we will have the lightness of spirit that makes acts of kindness possible.

So today as you gratefully count your blessings, notice how much more easy and natural it is to be kind.

A few quotes to ponder:

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

John F Kennedy:

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous & noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

J A Gaertner

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

Denis Waitley

Buddha says Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.

I wish you love, peace and joy today and always,

Julette

♥♥♥

P.S. Can you think of a more perfect trio for a success habit? Gratitude, Kindness and Loving…

How much time do you spend in the workplace, on your business or at school? I bet it’s significant!

So how about spreading some kindness in that environment?

You will increase the sense of well-being for everyone. Research shows that by doing, receiving AND observing kindness, we create positive feelings and improve our health! Kindness is healthy and contagious!

The kinder your environment, the better the interactions and healthier the connections.

Staff, clients and colleagues will give more of their time, their commitment and their creativity.

Today is the 13th day of our 21 Days of Kindness event. 1500+ have signed on to this event. Interest from as far away as India – Radioone in Mumbia has contacted us, (Malini Agarwal , a 21 Days of Kindness participant and Facebook friend) to help in spreading the kindness bug. It is contagious you know 🙂 .

Nakeva was in touch the other day, sharing her acts of kindness with us, she listed some here. In an email to me she said “I find I’m looking for opportunities every day to be kind and remind others to do the same. ” That struck me as the basis for a truth that gets ignored often…(isn’t it something how the most truthful ‘truths’ are hardest to remember, most times? )

By looking for ways to be kind, you will end up being more kind. It’s that simple. If we approach each day knowing we have to find a way today, to be kind in a specific way, we will be aware and senses will be heightened for kindness opportunities. Seek and ye shall find.

Quick experiment: Look around the room you’re in, right now. Quick look. Now close your eyes and try to remember how much brown – the color brown – you saw. Now open your eyes and see how much brown you see now, now that you’re looking for it. Are you seeing more brown? Chances are you are.

That’s because when you know what you’re looking for, you are more apt to find it. Simple.

The purpose of World Kindness Day is to go beyond our borders – personal, national, cultural. Honoring all of you from all over the world, seems perfect to me. I urge you to look for kindness, beyond your comfort zone, beyond your circles of comfort.

There you will find a miracle.

You are beautiful people with loving spirits. I’m honored to be your friend. You could have easily ignored this invitation but you didn’t. That moment of choice when you clicked ‘Yes’ was a divine moment and spoke volumes about your heart.

Just imagine! Small acts of kindness bouncing from one to the other to the other…inspiring to no end!

This is day #4 of a 21 day kindness initiative- see post below. 21 days because that’s how long it takes to develop a new habit, according to Dr. Maxwell Maltz.

We’re creating a powerful new habit. One that will transfer into every area of life. Very exciting!

Here is a 3 point guide to focus your efforts:

1.Be specific. It’s about focused kindness. Deciding to be kind is a wonderful decision. Sounds great and for some people it might even be enough to bring about a breakthrough in thought and behavior. But here’s the thing, MOST people need more structure, discipline and practice. In creating a new habit, repetition is key. Discipline is imperative. New behaviors don’t get formed with random and unfocused behavior.

So, each day make a specific decision to do a kind thing, for someone in particular.Do this for 21 days straight and you will find yourself habitually kind at the end of this period.

Another advantage to the focused kindness approach is this – someone gets to benefit each day and they will pass the kindness forward. It just happens naturally, no need to ask them to!

With focused kindness that personal human connection is more likely to be made.

2. Pebble in the pond: You know what happens when you throw a pebble intoa pond?It ripples outward from where the pebble lands.Imagine those circles moving outward.

This is how your kind acts should flow.Starting with those closest to you, be kind on a daily basis.This doesn’t mean you have to perform an act of kindness towards every member of your family and close friends, before moving onto colleagues and then strangers.Not at all. What you have to be careful of is withholding kindness from those closest to you while you make the world happy.Not an authentic approach to kindness.Just keep the pebble in mind. First circles first. (Kindness towards your self is assumed here – can’t give love and kindness to others if you withhold it from yourself!)

3. Stretch!If writing notes is something you do often and is very easy for you, that’s great.Do some of that for sure.

If smiling at strangers however is something you struggle with, make up your mind to do a good bit of that.The goal is to become more comfortable with a range of kindness actions.Some personal growth along the way is a wonderful by-product.

So stretch, grow, go beyond your comfort zone.

Together these 3 guidelines will bring variety, fun and authenticity to your kindness efforts.

Full commitment to this effort will be very rewarding. More people will be touched. Your tree of kindness will blossom and bear perpetual fruits of kindness.

Have fun with this process, take time to feel the joy of being kind.

Are there some guidelines you use that others would benefit form hearing about? Please share them here.

And please tell us about your experiences and people’s reactions to your acts of kindness. Stories are so motivating! 🙂

Have a joy filled, peaceful and loving day or evening…and thank you so much for being part of this effort to “BE the change we wish to see in the world.” (Gandhi)